Hacker group Anonymous plan revenge on Ferguson, Missouri police after death of teen Michael Brown

August 13, 201412:51pm

Unarmed teenager shot dead by Police2:29

Seventeen year-old Mike Brown was shot several times and killed by an officer of the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri. His body was left to lie in a pool of blood in the sweltering heat for hours. Courtesy AnonInsiders YouTube.
AnonInsiders YouTube.

HACKER group Anonymous has vowed to help the family of an unarmed black teen gunned down by police in the Missouri city of Ferguson.

Operating under the Twitter hashtag #OpFerguson, the hacktivists say the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown was just the latest example of extreme injustice being inflicted on “everyday” American citizens by their governments.

The website of the city’s Sheriff has today been taken down and a video released stating the vigilante organisation’s intentions to name and shame every officer and official involved in what it states is an illegal cover-up.

They say they’re going where the media isn’t allowed to go.

The international collective — inspired by the anti-authoritarian movie V for Vendetta — has a history of waging campaigns against what it perceives as corrupt law enforcement officials.

“We will seize all your databases and E-Mail spools and dump them on the internet. This is your only warning.”

News_Image_File: Expect us ... The international collective of internet “hacktivists” has vowed to stand up for the rights of the black community behind the killing of unarmed 18-year-old African American Michael Brown.

POLICE REFUSE TO IDENTIFY KILLER

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said last night he was holding off on publicly identifying the officer because of death threats.

Civil rights campaigner Al Sharpton, standing with the dead boy’s parents, criticised the decision, saying the secrecy is fuelling mistrust of the police in Ferguson, a predominantly black city of about 21,000 residents where violent protests broke out following the shooting.

On Twitter, a campaign using the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown prompted many black users to post photos of themselves and ask how they might be portrayed in news reports if they became shooting victims.

News_Image_File: No surrender ... With their hands raised, residents gather at a police line as a neighbourhood is locked down following skirmishes in Ferguson, Missouri. Source: AFP

OBAMA ENTERS THE FRAY

President Obama, who is vacationing on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard, said the death of Michael Brown was “heartbreaking”.

“Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time,” Obama said in a statement, his first public reaction to the incident, which has stirred strong racial tensions.

“I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding,” Obama added.

“We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.”

News_Image_File: On guard ... Police wearing riot gear stand at a post as they wait for a crowd to disperse in Ferguson. Source: AP

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS KILLING

Authorities have been vague about what led the officer to open fire, saying only that the shooting was preceded by a scuffle with a man in which the officer’s weapon discharged inside a patrol car.

One witness, Phillip Walker, told The Associated Press that he was on the porch of an apartment complex overlooking the scene when he saw a white officer with Brown on the street. Brown “was giving up in the sense of raising his arms and being subdued,” Walker said.

Dorian Johnson offered a similar account, telling local media that he and Brown were walking home when a police officer told them to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk. Johnson said they kept walking, which caused the officer to confront them and eventually fire his weapon.

News_Image_File: Police protection ... Authorities in Ferguson used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse a large crowd that had gathered at the site of a burnt-out convenience store damaged earlier. Source: AP

News_Image_File: Tragic scene ... A makeshift memorial sits in the middle of the street where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police. Source: AP

OFFICER ‘ON LEAVE’

The officer was placed on administrative leave at the weekend after the shooting. Police say death threats prompted them to withhold the officer’s name.

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said he had planned to release the officer’s name yesterday but changed course after death threats were called into the police department and City Hall, and posted on social media.

He said it could be weeks before he releases the name.

Jackson didn’t disclose specifics but said the decision came after a stream of death threats against the officer and other officers.

The race of the officer involved in the shooting also hasn’t been disclosed, but witnesses said he was white.

Brown was black.

News_Image_File: Appeal for calm, and justice ... Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton and Brown’s family were calling for order following riots and skirmishes with police in recent nights. Source: AFP

“The local authorities have put themselves in a position — hiding names and not being transparent — where people will not trust anything but an objective investigation,” Sharpton, standing with Brown’s mother and father, said during a news conference outside a St. Louis courthouse.

But he also echoed pleas by Brown’s parents and the NAACP civil rights group for peaceful protests in Ferguson, where the case has stoked racial tension, protests and looting.

“I need all of us to come together and do this right,” said Michael Brown Sr., with Sharpton standing at his side. “No violence.”

Some civil rights leaders have drawn comparisons between Brown’s death and that of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was fatally shot by a Florida Neighbourhood Watch volunteer who was later acquitted of murder charges.

News_Image_File: Sign language ... Demonstrators raise their hands and chant “hands up, don't shoot” during a protest over the killing of Michael Brown in Clayton, Missouri. Some reports state that Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot and killed by a police officer. Source: AFP

TENSIONS RUN HIGH

Nearly three dozen people were arrested following a candlelight vigil yesterday as crowds burned stores, vandalised vehicles, assaulted reporters and taunted officers. A large crowd that gathered on Monday at a burnt-out convenience store turned rowdy at nightfall, with people throwing rocks at police, Jackson said. Officers used tear gas and shot “beanbag rounds” meant to stun them.

There were at least five arrests from yesterday’s unrest but no reports of looting, said Brian Schellman, spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department.